


For Bitter for Sweet

by sunfries



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Pining Shiro (Voltron), coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 10:58:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16891281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunfries/pseuds/sunfries
Summary: Shiro hates coffee but he drinks it every day.Why? There's a beautiful barista he's in love with that works down the road that's why.So he's going to keep drinking that coffee until the day he dies.





	For Bitter for Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> The meme:  
> https://twitter.com/sunfries_arts/status/1071079910695784448?s=09
> 
> this fic was inspired by a meme, inspired by a discord conversation, inspired by my OTHER fic.  
> the question was "how does shiro like his coffee?" for Hearts on Fire, but then this came to life and it needed it's own fic lol
> 
> Come see me on twitter, I follow art blogs!  
> @sunfries  
> @sunfries_arts

Vanilla latte.  
Carmel cielo.  
Iced macchiato.  
Non-fat frappuccino with extra whip cream and chocolate sauce.

These were all words that supposedly make drinking coffee better. However it all still tasted like shit to Shiro no matter how many of their fancy words he combined or whichever ones he switched out. He tried going through them all day by day to find at least one that he didn't despise the taste of. Shiro much prefered sweet things and coffee was far from that category. For the past two weeks he'd been ordering a hazelnut chocolate-toffee latte; seemingly trying to drown it in so many flavors so he wouldn't notice the coffee taste. Of course it never worked. He still came in every day and ordered a coffee drink. 

His wallet was thinning and his is heart had been pounding non-stop for three months now ever since he starting coming here. Although, admittedly, the coffee was only half the reason his heart was hurtling around a race track. 

There was this... Barista. 

He was always serving coffee at ten in the morning when Shiro came in. His hair was darker than the black coffee he brewed but it was just as rich and strong. Shiro tried his black coffee once. Worst mistake of his life but he tried again.

His eyes were a deep, dark swirling blue. At times, out of the light and in the shadows, Shiro swore he saw purple. They reminded him of the blueberry muffins he ate every Monday he put them out. They usually helped him choke down the bitter bean juice. 

His smile. Oh lord, his smile. It was so sweet. If Shiro could put the essence of his grin or the spirit of his enamoring laugh into his drink, well, he might not hate coffee so much.

He wasn't stalking him or anything. Shiro wasn't planning on cornering the poor beauty at work. He wasn't doing anything inappropriate. He was simply buying a drink and occupying the same space as the barista until his cup was empty each day. 

Shiro entered the shop at his usual time. There was usually either one other customer or nobody else when he showed up. To his dismay there were six people, at least three groups. What was even worse was both of the registers were on and the customers who had gotten there before him had decided to form one line instead of two. They seemed to settle on going to whichever register opened up next instead of having separate, established lines. Normally this wouldn't bother Shiro in any other situation. But now he had to do some math. 

Should he jump in line now or should he stall? Maybe pretend he forgot his wallet in his car? Or bend down to untie and re-tie his shoe really quick? There was somebody ordering at both registers right now. There _he_ was behind his register. He was speaking to the customer in front of him and pointing to their order sign. He was probably describing something to them, he was really good at explaining the different drinks. It looked like that interaction still needed a minute. The customer at the next register over was pulling out their wallet so they could pay for their order. So long as nobody took extra long to order Shiro figured he should be on track for ending up at the register he wanted. 

That’s when he heard from up front, “I think I need a moment.” 

Great. Now he had to redo his mental math. What if someone else took a really long time? Would it balance it out? Maybe they would end up in _his_ line again. Then there’s absolutely no way Shiro would get to talk to him today. Also, what if he estimated the groups wrong? What if those two people standing by each other not talking are just tired friends and not strangers? What if someone wanted to order something long and complicated and he got too busy to even look Shiro’s way? What if-

“Shiro!” His mind stopped racing and handed the baton off to his heart when he heard his voice. He gazed down past the people waiting in line and saw him with that candied smile that he adored. His arm was outstretched and beckoning him forward. 

Stunned and short of breath Shiro made his way past the queue, making sure to be polite as he passed. The enchanting barista moved away from the register where his customer stood still trying to make up their mind. He watched as he picked up a pot of hot coffee and pour it into a cup that had already been prepared and set it on the pick-up counter in front of him.

“Tall hazelnut chocolate-toffee latte, right?” The longer Shiro stood there with that dumb, goofy deer-in-the-headlights look the more the beautiful barista’s smile intensified. Shiro was pretty sure that’s what he’d been ordering for a while. Even if it wasn’t he’d still say yes. He managed a quick nod. 

“Y-yeah...Yes.” He managed to squeeze out before swallowing hard. 

His smile turned warmer. “Now that I finally know your regular order you won’t have to wait as long. And you’re just in time too.” 

There was a tenderness in the way he spoke to him. Something Shiro craved.

He continued talking. “And don’t worry about paying today, I mostly wanted to see if I could remember your drink.” He turned his head back towards the register counter. His dark black hair was held in place by purple hair clips, keeping his bangs out of his eyes. “Have a great morning, Shiro.” 

Shiro loved his name in his mouth. He felt like it belonged there.

The barista stepped away and got back to the customer who had finally decided on what they wanted. 

Shiro was still stunned. He didn’t get to thank him.

He lifted his cup, his wonderful token of personal acknowledgement, and sidled along the counter back to the register while he pulled out his wallet and placed a nice tip in the jar in front of the register he was working at. It was the least he could do for him paying for his drink that he secretly hates. 

Shiro wasn’t sure if it was actually his jar or not. He was only 80% certain it was his because the name on the jar said “Keith” but the name tag on his apron said “Yorak”. The tag was written in permanent marker though, while the other employees’ tags were printed. Shiro sensed it was maybe an inside joke of some kind. He was pretty sure his name was Keith. 

“Thank you.” He made sure he heard him but didn’t demand too much attention. He took his drink and went to the table he usually sat at. He would stay fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. However long it took him to choke down the bitter sludge. 

He sat there sipping his repulsive beverage and watching the line disappear after being taken care of. It went back to being the usual calm, empty coffee shop that Shiro visited day after day. 

Every now and then he would look up from his phone to steal a glance at Keith. Sometimes Shiro saw him peering back at him and had to pretend he wasn’t trying to look at him on purpose. 

Lord he was such a disaster. Day after day of pining after a gorgeous boy who knows him as Shiro, hazelnut chocolate-toffee latte guy. It was getting to be too much. He was such a fool. Although that didn’t mean he planned to stop. 

After a while the coffee cup was satisfactorily empty enough to be thrown away. That was the good news. The bad news was that meant it was time to leave. Shiro might want to talk to Keith and be near him, but he wasn’t about to pretend to drink coffee when it was all gone. At least not yet. 

He begrudgingly stood to his feet and pushed in his chair. He assured himself he’d be back tomorrow to drink another cup of disgusting filth and to see the most beautiful soul he’d ever met. He snatched his empytish cup off the table and started to take a step toward the exit but stopped. His eyes doubled back to the cup’s side. Whatever was written there was impossibly too long to simply say his name. 

He pulled it closer to make out what was written. 

“Shiro”, with a heart over the ‘i’.  
“Let’s go out sometime? 555-865-8766”.

Shiro’s almost certain he’s immortal because he should have died of a heart attack. With the coffee he’d consumed plus this, he was certain if he was going to die it would be now. 

His eyes held wide in disbelief for a second before he slowly turned his head to look over to the counter. Keith was standing over the sink rinsing out a blender. Shiro floated on auto pilot back over to the registers and stood there, staring, unsure of what to say. He was so caught off guard. Did he really mean it? 

Keith must have sensed the energy behind him because he threw a quick glance over his shoulder then turned off the sink faucet. He came back over to him. 

“Hey,” he smiled at him again ever so sweetly. “Can I get you anything else?”

Staring into his eyes he was lost again. The cup in his hand was tangible enough to remind him what was happening. “The... My cup, you wrote... Do you really mean it?” 

His eyes went a little wide and it surprised Shiro. He’d never seen him look shocked before. Shiro also swears he saw his face start to redden. 

“Oh!” He glanced to the side and gave a dry, restricted laugh. “Yeah, you know. I wasn’t sure if you were single or not but I figured there was no harm in asking...”

Shiro couldn’t help the smile from creeping across his lips. “I’d love to.” 

Keith looked back into his eyes. His shoulder tension lowered and his own smile appeared. 

“Really? I wasn’t sure if giving you my number was a bad idea or not... You didn’t really respond to anything else.”

He started to continue on, and honestly Shiro didn’t mean to interrupt him but he didn’t understand. 

“What do you mean anything else? What didn’t I respond to?” Shiro questioned. 

Keith stood there, silent for a moment. His head shook ever so slightly from side to side. “I’ve been writing messages on your cup for weeks now.”

Shiro’s mouth gaped. He had something to say but he wasn’t sure what it was so his mouth stayed there, hanging open. He managed to weakly squeak a puzzled “Huh?”

He laughed at him. That sweet, beautiful laugh. This time it was richer, more entertained and full of life. 

“Here I thought you just didn’t like me.” It almost sounded like he was teasing him. “I mean, it wasn’t every single day if it makes you feel better. Maybe two, three times a week tops.”

Shiro was still stunned but he was able to think again. “I... wow. I can’t believe it took me so long. You know, I should have just asked you out when I wanted to.” He spilled the beans. “But I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. Plus it’s awkward when you’re not sure what someone’s name is.”

The barista’s head tilted. “What to you mean?” Shiro started to explain the confusion when he closed his eyes suddenly and shook his head. “My name is NOT Yorak, please ignore that. It’s my manager’s idea of a bad joke.” 

It was Shiro’s turn to laugh. “Well I’m glad it’s Keith and not ‘Yorak’. It is Keith, right?”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, it is. What should we do then? I’m off tomorrow morning if you want to grab some coffee at a different place.” 

Shiro’s heart started having pounding problems again. Should he tell him the truth or should he lie, possibly having to keep up his coffee-lover facade throughout the entirety of their time together? No. Absolutely not, he had to come clean right now, as soon as possible. 

“Actually...” He started shyly. “Can we grab some breakfast instead? To be entirely honest... I hate coffee. I can’t stand the way it tastes or smells. I only came here each day so I could see you.” 

This was it. If Keith thought he was a lunatic that was the end before the beginning even started. But if he thought it was endearing...

Keith mouth opened to a gasp which at first Shiro thought was horror. Keith quickly covered his mouth with his hand and Shiro heard a stifled giggle crescendoing from behind it. He was laughing at him. At least he didn’t think he was psycho. Still, laughing isn’t the best reaction. 

Shiro stood there feeling bare. What did he do now? Were his chances ruined?

Keith caught his breath and curbed his laughter. “You’re kidding me!” 

His sweet, candied smile beamed again. “My turn to confess something, then. I actually got another job last month. I’ve just been sticking around here waiting for you to ask me out.”

**Author's Note:**

> typos are typos are typos are typos  
> i didnt betta this lol  
> writing about hating coffee was weird because I honestly love it so much
> 
> Ps. If.. If u type out keiths phone number u can spell VOL-TRON lmao


End file.
